A/N: I hope you guys appreciate how many creepy photos I had to look at and how many weird, weird things I had to google to try and make this chapter accurate XD

His head swam. The black crossing his vision without warning, then pulling away as quickly as it had appeared. Jun wasn't sure when it'd begun- he honestly had a hard time remembering the last point at which it'd been completely clear. Ever since that fight... perhaps it had been then.

Either way, he was losing.

At points, Jun knew what he was doing.

It was usually when he was with Tenten, talking with her and grinning. When those moments were happening, he'd play along. It was easy to pretend when she was there. Hell, the date comment had almost jerked him out of the haze. He'd felt embarrassment sweeping through him as a sputtered reply escaped his lips. He'd started walking, reacting as if he wasn't confused as to how they'd gotten to the topic in the first place.

Soon, however, the black would consume him again.

Some part of him, a distant part, knew what had happened. He'd lost the reins while fighting Yo. Jun could faintly recall how pissed Kurai had been when the world had collapsed into black. How the boy had thrown a fit rivaling any Jun had seen to date. He'd yelled about how Jun shouldn't have gone that far for a stupid girl and a dumb village. He'd pressed against Jun's presence, then the black had come.

The haze cleared again.

Jun hung from a tree, his feet hooked around a thin branch that hung a half-dozen feet above where Tenten sat. Her back was pressed lightly against the bark, her head curled back so she could watch him. Amusement was clear on her face which was framed by frizzy strands of hair that the rough bark had pulled from her twin buns. As he curled upwards to grasp the branch with his hands, his head spinning with the effort it took just to focus on the surroundings that had suddenly formed around him, Tenten simply shook her head in wonder.

"What is it with you and trees?"

He blinked, cocking his head to the side thoughtfully. The answer was simple enough, he supposed. Within seconds he'd met her gaze, a light smile on his lips despite the current situation.

"It's not that interesting of a reason."

She cocked a brow, silently prompting him to continue. He released the branch once again, crossing his arms over his chest as he swung back to the original position he'd been in. Almost instantly his black locks surrounded his face like a halo, almost blocking view of the musing smile on his lips.

"I'm not strong," Jun admitted. "And my endurance levels are next to nothing. I'm fast, though, and flexible. So... I can maneuver around these things with ease. When I was younger..."

When he trailed off, Tenten simply studied his expression. The boy had furrowed his brow, his hesitation obvious. She didn't prompt him, simply silently waited till he seemed to come to a decision on the matter.

"When I was younger, I wasn't able to easily manipulate my chakra. Shocker, I know. The genjutsu genius had trouble with chakra manipulation," he joked, his expression far from amused. Rather, he seemed lost in the memory. "My... my mom... she'd tell me to do what I could. We had these really thick trees in our yard, I could get up in them without problem. So, when... well, when I'd practice with... with... when I practiced, I'd hide out in the trees... It took awhile before he figured out where I'd gone."

Tenten was quiet for a moment. The pronoun was all she needed to know why Jun had such trouble getting out whom his practice partner had been.

"Well, anyway," Jun announced, cutting through the tension. "It became almost a second nature- hanging around in these things."

"You're turning red."

"Eh, details."

Tenten shook her head, amusement on her face once more. The rush of blood to his head atop of the haziness that had begun to invade his mind caused Jun to release his legs from around the branch within a few seconds of the end of the conversation. He flipped over in the air, his feet landing lightly on the ground. When he shot Tenten a grin, she simply rolled her eyes.

"Show off."

He shrugged.

"If you've got it, flaunt it."

She snorted.

"Your ego...I swear."

Jun snickered in response, hooking his arms around his head and dropping to a sitting position in front of her. Tenten's eyes studied him curiously in the following moments, her brow furrowing as she picked up on a missing detail.

"Where'd your hairclip go?"

He offered a sheepish smile, reaching up to touch where the clip would usually be holding his shaggy locks at bay. As a result of the disappearance of the clip, several strands of hair had fallen in front of his eyes.

"I must have dropped it," he replied with a shrug.

Tenten frowned then shifted where she sat so she could reach for him with both hands. One of hers pushed his away from his hair, the other grasping the lock and tucking it behind his ear.

"That'll do for now," she announced. "It's strange... not seeing your eyes I mean."

As if she'd only then realized how odd her own action had been, Tenten flushed. Jun started to laugh at the sight, but the sound died as the sudden... change to the air between them made itself known even to his dense self. Her hand stilled in a position where it still lightly brushed his hair, his own having settled uselessly between them. For a second, he simply allowed the electricity between them to exist. After that second had passed, however, one single thought flickered through his clouded mind.

The air between them couldn't change. Not while he was like this. Not while the black was only seconds from consuming him again without warning.

Jun needed to break the suddenly serious mood. He had to.

That in mind, he put a grin on his lips and suddenly closed the distance between them.

"You look so serious!"

His hands descended on Tenten's sides, tickling her. The girl squealed, jerking back as an indignant flush lit up her cheeks.

"Jun!"

He laughed, satisfied as that feeling to the air disappeared. His fingers continued to brush her sides, sending Tenten into a fit of laughter herself as she scrambled to grab his hands with her own. Her back slipped from the tree as she toppled to the side. Suddenly, Jun found himself leaning over her, the serious edge in the air returning as his fingers stilled on her sides.

Neither one of them moved.

Honestly, he wasn't sure if either of them breathed in that second. Tenten simply stared at him with wide , startled eyes. Without thought, Jun settled his palms against the soft earth beneath them. He shifted his weight, leaning forward...

The haze overtook him again.

He couldn't have described it, the nothingness. It wasn't as if time passed. It was simply a state of "not" being there.

Then, as quickly as he had gone, he was back.

Slowly, his surroundings sunk in. They hadn't moved from the grounds, they hadn't even moved from the awkward position they'd been in. No, the only thing that had changed was the position of Jun's hands.

They were curled around the soft skin of Tenten's throat.

Her fingers were forcing themselves beneath his as she attempted to draw air into her lungs.

"I hate her."

Those three words echoed through Jun's mind as he suddenly released the grip. He scrambled backwards, his bottom hitting the ground as he put as much distance between them as he could. Tenten shifted into a sitting position, her hands curling around where his had been only seconds ago. Her eyes were wide, fearful, and focused on him.

That look.

He'd never wanted to see that look.

Once again, he couldn't breathe. Once again, he couldn't pull his eyes from Tenten. Once again, he couldn't move.

This time, though, the reasons were far from the previous.

"I hate her."

Kurai's repetitive words hit the silent air unheard to Tenten; but to Jun they seemed to be roaring in his ears.

"... Jun..."

He began to shake.

Then, the black.

_____________________

When she found him, she was going to kill him.

That's what Kazue kept telling herself as she systematically searched the village for Tenten and Jun. The workers at the hospital had informed her that if she was so bothered by Jun's stung, she would have to find them herself. They didn't have time to be searching for two "escapees" that would have been released soon given that they were already in much better shape than when they came in. As such, she'd spent the better part of two hours searching the village, her anger only growing when she thought to check Jun's favorite training ground and found it empty.

It was when she was about to give up that she spotted a certain brunette racing through the streets. Kazue started after her, opening her mouth to call out Tenten's name, only to falter as she realized that there was something off about the whole matter.

Tenten was racing down the street, bumping into others repeatedly and not bothering to pause to apologize. She slipped more than once in her frantic search as her bad leg was not completely up to the rough treatment. As soon as Kazue had taken all of this in, she channeled chakra into her feet and leapt atop one of the nearby buildings. Using the rooftops to catch up to where Tenten was still tearing through the streets, Kazue soon dropped down in front of her.

Tenten stumbled to a stop, her eyes going wide at the sight of the searching gaze Kazue sent her. Almost unconsciously, her hands jerked up to grasp her neck. The action drew Kazue's attention, her sharp eyes easily picking up on the few red scratches peaking above the pale digits.

'What are with those marks?'

"K-Kazue. You... have you seen Jun?"

Kazue blinked, her attention dragged to the problem at hand. At the same time, the situation in combination with Tenten's tone sent an uneasy feeling flooding through her.

"No. That's actually the exact question I was going to ask you."

Tenten seemed to instantly lose interest in the girl before her. She started forward, her gaze turning back to the streets.

"I see. I... if you see him, tell him I need to talk to him. It's... it's important."

"Tenten--" Kazue began, grabbing the girl by the arm and jerking her to a stop.

"I can't talk, I need to--"

"What happened?"

As Tenten mumbled an excuse that she instantly dismissed, Kazue raised her free hand to grab the ones that Tenten still had clasped around her neck. The girl instantly went stiff. When she clasped her neck tighter, Kazue only narrowed her eyes.

"It's.. it's nothing."

"Really?" she questioned. "Then drop your hands."

"I-I-"

"Tenten. If he hurt you, you need to show me."

At the tone in Kazue's voice, Tenten's eyes widened. Instantly, they met Kazue's. In return, her lips twisted up in a humorless smile.

"Yes, I know. I've known for a long time now why Jun is the way he is. Now, show me."

It took a long moment, but slowly the brunette's fingers loosened around her neck. Kazue instantly pulled them down, sucking in a sharp breath at the sight that met her eyes. Two, horizontal, red, disk-like marks were visible on Tenten's skin along with several vertical scratches that Kazue realized were most likely the result of Tenten's own fingers. The two disk-like marks... well, she could easily picture Jun's thumbs being the cause of those.

"Tenten..."

"He didn't mean it," Tenten interjected hurriedly. "I just nee--"

"To hell he didn't! Dammit, have you checked his house, yet?"

Tenten hesitated.

"Have you?" Kazue pressed.

"I... I was just heading there."

"Then, let's go!"

Obviously far from fond of Kazue inviting herself to tag along, Ten slowly nodded and took off down the street once again. It didn't take long for them to reach the house. Kazue didn't bother to knock, instead simply opened the door and slipped inside. Her ears instantly picked up on the happy chatter of Jun's cousin.

"That's when sensei said that I had the best aim in my class! I told him it was 'cause Jun showed me how! He said he was surprised that Jun could teach anyone. I kicked him for that--"

"You what?"

"--and Sensei lectured me for a full hour! It was so unfair! I mean, he's the one who insul--"

"Has Jun been home?"

The older of the two woman sitting in the kitchen jumped, her eyes instantly shifting to where Kazue stood in the doorway. She was on her feet in seconds, her concerned expression flickering between the two girls.

"I think I heard him upstairs a little while ago... he didn't come down, though. I assumed he was getting his things to train... the doctor said he'd be released soon and he seemed so restless when I was last there..."

Kazue simply nodded and turned back for the entrance to the house.

"W-wait, is he in trouble?"

"Don't worry!" Tenten called over her shoulder as she took off after the blonde. "Kazue, slow down!"

She only slowed slightly, her path taking them directly towards the village gates. Tenten's heart sunk as she realized what Kazue had assumed from the information they'd just gained.

"You don't think--"

"You know him best, Tenten," Kazue countered. "What do you think he would do in a situation like this? If Jun lost control of himself to the point of hurting you, what would he do?"

"That idiot," Tenten instantly cursed. "... let's hurry."

The two girls arrived at the gates within minutes of the declaration. As Kazue paused to question Izumo and Kotetsu, Tenten simply searched the path leading away from the village with her eyes.

Jun couldn't have left. Not because of this, not without saying something.

He wouldn't. 

Right?